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United Justice Party (al Badara)
The United Justice Party (UJP; Majatran: حزب العدالة المتحدة, Hizb al-Adala al-Muttahid) is a classical liberal political party in al Badara. It was founded as the Badaran Justice Party (BJP) in 3374 by liberal politicians and academics concerned at the impunity of Badaran leaders and the state of the Badaran economy. Control over the UJP is shared between its Congressional Caucus, led by Saif al Din Rashad Asghar, National Executive Committee, led by Chairman Jawahir Husn Sabbag, and National Convention The UJP is considered farthest-right party on the Badaran political specturm in terms of economic policy; however this is due not to extreme political positions, but rather the big government policies of the other political parties. The UJP strongly supports economic deregulation, low taxation and government spending, and privatisation. Socially, the UJP is centrist, being characterised as neither liberal nor conservative. Apart from economic and social issues, however, the UJP has become notable for their calls for the prosecution of a number of Badaran war criminals. Since December 3380, the UJP has been the largest political party in al Badara in terms of congressional representation, with 173 seats, seventeen ahead of the Red Vanguard Consortium, and holds the governorships of Al Salmania and Al Samarya. It is the larger of the two opposition parties. History In the early 3370s, an informal group of Badaran politicians, activists and academics (mainly legal scholars) came together to call for the prosecution of Badaran war criminals for crimes committed both in the Great Majatran War and in the few preceeding years. However, within a few years, with increasing membership, the group began to turn some of their focus to other issues, such as the economy, which was in a poor state. In 3374, the formation of a political party was proposed. In Bier Qassem in early May 3374, despite the opposition of the 'purists', a major conference of liberal (by Badaran standards) organisations took place. A second conference was held in Dar al Badara later that month. With the success of both conferences, the formation of the Badaran Justice Party was formally announced on June 2, 3374 in Dar al Badara, at a major rally attended by thousands. The young Party's already high visibility was quickly enhanced by the spate of legislation it proposed in its early months. While most of its legislation was targeted at Badara's tightly regulated, largely state-owned economy and massive budget, some of it was proposed to secularise the nation and reduce the restrictions on individual liberty. Several constitutional bills were introduced into the Congress in an attempt to better define the operations of the government. By the time of the elections of September 3375, the BJP was among the largest, and certainly the most vocal, political party in al Badara. It had gained over a million members, many of which were previously politically inactive due to the limited political choice available in al Badara. Thus, it was hardly a surprise when the BJP won almost 16% of the vote, 111 congressional seats and a governorship (that of Al Salmania), making it the third-largest party in terms of the congressional representation. Despite its performance in the elections, the BJP was excluded from the Cabinet, which was led by the Red Vanguard Consortium (RVC). Thus, it continued in opposition and did not control any ministries, although it did possess significant influence through its voting power. The BJP managed to increase its profile by taking vocal stands on different issues put before the legislature. In March 3376, the Executive Committee announced that the Caucus leadership would be vacated and new leaders elected to replace the provisional leaders who had been appointed at the Party's founding. Alhasan Budail Malouf, the Leader, was replaced by Saif al Din Rashad Asghar, while Deputy Leader Fayyad Mumtaz Ganim was replaced by Jabir Tablib Sleiman. Shortly after, the BJP was renamed the United Justice Party. During this legislative term, the Union of Working People's Forces, the second-largest political party in al Badara, disbanded. Under the Badaran Constitution, new elections were called for June 3378. The UJP increased its congressional representation by 26 seats. It was thus the equal-second-largest political party in the legislature. Along with this success, the UJP also retained the governorship of Al Salmania and won the governorship of Al Samarya. The Party's candidate for General Secretary, Nasim 'Adnan Boulos, managed to progress to the run-off round but was defeated by the incumbent, Chaz al-Ahmad. After the elections of 3378, the goal of prosecuting Jalal al-e-Ahmad took a back seat to other areas of policy, the UJP put forward two more major series of legislative proposals, one in February and the other in July, 3379. These bills were intended to intiate significant reforms in all aspects of the society, economy and foreign relations of al Badara. Unsurprisingly, the Vanguards voted against all of the bills. Meawhile, in early March 3379, UJP leaders formed the Badaran Democratic League (BDL), a coalition of Badaran political parties, "united in their pursuit of a more successful democracy in al Badara" and "devoted to the expansion of democratic ideals, civil and individual rights and the reduction of state power". Shortly afterwards, the Republican Democratic Alliance (RDA) joined the BDL. The UJP then decided to open up the League to foreign parties sympathetic to its cause, although they would only receive observer status. In September 3379, the UJP proposed a legislative motion to call upon the government to work towards a union of al Badara and Kafuristan, citing their common identity and mutual interests. The motion passed, but a corresponding motion failed in Kafuristan, shelving any unity proposals for the time being. Meanwhile, five ministries, including those of Finance and Internal Affairs, were left vacant in August 3378 after RDA members resigned from the Cabinet in protest against RVC policy. After multiple failed attempts to form a new government, the UJP decided to speed things up by proposing a no-confidence motion, which would instantly necessitate the formation of a new government. It failed, but nevertheless persuaded the RVC to propose a new Cabinet. Under the leadership of Saif al Din Rashad Asghar, the UJP agreed to join a Cabinet led by the RVC. However, this led to a high level of disconent within the Party's Caucus. In August 3380, after the RDA declared that they would not support the new government, the UJP's anti-Asghar faction broke into open revolt and began searching for a repalcement. Jabir Tablib Sleiman refused to stand despite Asghar's offer to resign in his favour; eventually Finance Minister-candidate Aaliya bint Rami al-Balkhi decided to contest the vote. After a successful spill motion, al-Balkhi won the leadership, 102-35. Shortly afterwards, in November 3380, the UJP's General Convention ratified a deal struck between the UJP and the RDA, in which the UJP would support the RDA's general-secretarial candidate. The RDA, in return, would allow the UJP's Leader to become Premier if they had the numbers to form government. With the departure of the Freedom Party, new elections were called, as mandated by law. The UJP won 36 more seats than they had in the previous election, and became the largest party in the legislature, with 173 seats, which gave it the right to propose a government. It also managed to retain its two governorships. Electoral performance Congressional Elections !Year !Seats !Change in Seats !Seats (%) !Votes (%) !Votes !Swing (%) |- |Sep 3375 |111||▲111||15.86||15.76||9,306,868||▲15.76 |- |Jun 3378 |137||▲26||19.57||19.55||12,631,138||▲3.79 |- |Dec 3380 |173||▲36||24.71||25.06||13,429,434||▲5.49 |} General Secretarial Elections !Year !Candidate !Votes (%) !Votes !Swing (%) !Result |- |rowspan="2"|Jun 3378 |rowspan="2"|Nasim 'Adnan Boulos |21.30||13,664,701||▲21.30||Progressed to run-off |- |40.19||20,831,663||▲18.89||Defeated |} Public officials General Secretaries N/A Premiers N/A Ministers N/A Governors Party Platform Adopted at the 3374 National Convention; re-adopted at the 3376 and 3378 National Conventions #Government must be fair, transparent and accountable. #The administration of justice must be fair and impartial. #The free market is the best vehicle for the creation of wealth. #The government should be reduced in size. #Equality of opportunity is paramount. #Those that cannot cope must be supported by a civilized state. #All people are entitled to the protection of their liberty. #All people are equal and therefore there should not be discrimination. #All people have rights that are not be be infringed upon. #We need to engage diplomatically with other nations. #We need a secular society which respects religion. #The government must guarantee law and order. Structure The UJP is led by the National Executive Committee, which is the highest elected body of the party. It does not set party policy, but is mainly responsible for administration, electoral policy and fundraising. The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the NEC, along with sixteen Committee members, are elected by the National Convention, which meets every two years. Each of the State Chairpeople are ex-officio members of the NEC, as are the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Congressional Caucus. The First Secretary and Elections Secretary are elected by the NEC; howerver they must be Committee members. The National Convention is a body which meets once a year, although the NEC can call meetings between the annual ones. The Convention elects some of the NEC members and must approve the party platform, although it generally acquiesces to the Congressional Caucus. At every fourth annual meeting, the Convention must decide on the UJP's Presidential candidate. Each state branch of the UJP is represented in accordance with its size, with the smallest branch having the same number of representatives as the Congressional Caucus, or 100 representatives if the Caucus has fewer than 100 members. Every member of the UJP's Congressional Caucus is an ex-officio Convention member, with equal voting power to other members. If the Caucus has fewer than 100 members, additional members to take up the full 100 seats are elected by the Caucus. The Congressional Caucus consists of every member of the UJP in the National Congress of the Vanguard. The Congressional Caucus is responsible for the party's platform (which, however, is subject to the Convention's approval). The Caucus also elects its Leader and Deputy Leader, who nominate the Party's frontbench for approval. Generally, the Congressional Leader is also the Party's candidate for Premier. The UJP is composed of a number of state branches, each organised on similar lines to the national Party. They are all led by a State Executive Committee, which in turn is led by the State Chairperson (an ''ex-officio ''member of the NEC, as stated above). The State Convention has a similar function to the National Convention. However, the state-level legislative caucuses possess far less power, due to the limited authority of the state legislatures. Leadership Factions The UJP has several official, organised factions. While they do not have high official memberships, they are larger than they are officially stated to be as many Party members informally align themselves with one of the factions. The The UJP has four main factions. United Right The United Right is generally regarded as the largest faction. Its members are socially conservative and wish for a greater emphasis on traditional values; they also tend to be more religious. They believe in significant police power to ensure law and order. The United Right is also devoted to the free market and wishes for the reduction of government, including sharp welfare cuts. It supports a strong and assertive foreign policy, backed up by a powerful military; however it opposes the provision of foreign aid and allowing the entry of refugees. It supports active removal of illegal immigrants. Liberal-Progressives The Liberal-Progressive faction is supportive of greater personal freedoms. It supports a secular state in which religion has a very limited role to play, and prefers to have a government that keeps out of people's affairs. The Liberal-Progressives are generally less supportive of aggressive anti-illegal immigrant policies. They promote capitalism and welfare cuts, but less so than the United Right. They do not believe in a highly powerful military and instead emphasise peaceful negotiations, making allies and multilateralism; they are also more willing to prove international aid and accept refugees. Populists The Populists are somewhat conservative and represent the more working-class-leaning members of the UJP. It is socially conservative and religious, but only mildly so. Like the United Right, it places emphasis on law and order. It leans towards the centre on economic issues, and favours regulation, progressive taxation and the retainment of the welfare state, although in a somewhat reduced form. The Populists do not have any semblance of a united policy on foreign affairs; rather, they concentrate more on domestic issues. League for Freedom The League for Freedom is the smallest of the factions, and has strong libertarian tendencies. It members are generally quite socially progressive, and oppose any government interference in the private lives of citizens. They believe that the state's powers, especially those of the police, are best limited to ensure that dictatorship does not resurface. The League is highly supportive of free market policies and promote drastic cuts to regulation, taxation and welfare. It prefers to keep al Badara out of the affairs of foreign nations and is thus the isolationist wing of the party. Category:Al'badara Category:Al'Badara Category:Political parties in Al'Badara